The Musconetcong River is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

in northwestern

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed April 1, 2011 It flows through the rural mountainous country of northwestern New Jersey. The name derives from the

Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

words ''moschakgeu'' meaning "clear" and ''hannek'' meaning "stream". Part of it is a

National Wild and Scenic River The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free- ...

It rises out of

Lake Hopatcong Lake Hopatcong is the largest freshwater body in New Jersey, United States, about in area. Located from the Delaware River and from Manhattan, New York City, the lake forms part of the border between Sussex and Morris counties in the state's ...

, on the border between the borough of

Hopatcong Hopatcong ( ) is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Sussex County, New Jersey, Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 14,362, a decrease of 785 (−5.2%) from the 2010 ...

in Sussex County and the township of Roxbury in Morris County. It flows through Lake Musconetcong, then flows southwest, past Stephensburg and New Hampton, passing south of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

then along the southeastern side of the Pohatcong Mountain ridge. It joins the Delaware at Riegelsville, approximately 10 mi (16 km) south of Phillipsburg. The river does not flow through any large population center and has been the site of relatively little industrial development throughout its history. In the 18th century, the surrounding hills were largely deforested as a source of

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

for the

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

industry in the surrounding region. The local industry declined by the middle of the 19th century after the building of the former

Morris Canal The Morris Canal (1829–1924) was a common carrier anthracite coal canal across northern New Jersey that connected the two industrial canals at Easton, Pennsylvania across the Delaware River from its western terminus at Phillipsburg, New Jers ...

, the course of which ran along the upper river, to bring

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

from Pennsylvania to northern New Jersey. After the demise of the canal from the introduction of

railroads Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

in the late 19th century, the dam pools along the river that supplied the canal became the site of a popular summer cottage industry.

Silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...

ed remnants of the pools, as well as the remnants of the canal itself, can still be seen along the river. Human habitation in the Musconetcong Valley can be traced back approximately 12,000 years to the end of the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

. The Plenge Site along the lower river in

Warren County Warren County is the name of fourteen counties in the USA. Some are named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War: * Warren County, Georgia * Warren County, Illinois * Warren County ...

was the first of only two major Paleo-Indian

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

site excavations in New Jersey, and is considered one of the most significant in the northeastern United States. The USGS stream flow gauge at Bloomsbury has the river's flows recorded from as far back as 1904. The average flow over the time recorded for the gauge at Bloomsbury is approximately 244 cfs. Record flows of the river were recorded in 2011 as result of

Hurricane Irene Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive tropical cyclone which affected much of the Caribbean and East Coast of the United States during late August 2011. The ninth named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 2011 At ...

. According to an

urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

, the river is also home to a creature known as the Musconetcong River Mantis Man, a somewhat humanoid, somewhat insect-like creature.Urban legend: Have you seen the Musconetcong Mantis Man?
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References

External links

Musconetcong Watershed AssociationU.S. Geological Survey: NJ stream gaging stationsMusconetcong River Watershed -- photographs & discussion group on flickrNY-NJTC: Musconetcong River Reservation Details and Info
{{authority control Archaeological sites in New Jersey Tributaries of the Delaware River Rivers of Hunterdon County, New Jersey Rivers of Morris County, New Jersey Rivers of New Jersey Rivers of Sussex County, New Jersey Rivers of Warren County, New Jersey Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States

See also

References

External links